Call for council to act on 'pothole menace'
David Ogle/LDRSRoads in a rural area have been described as a "pothole menace" with calls for a council to act.
Independent councillor Steve Kay, who represents the Lockwood ward on Redcar and Cleveland Council, hit out at what he called "long-term neglect" of the area's roads.
He said the Labour authority had recently resurfaced an "atrociously potholed" section of Stanghow Road, "after endless excuses and delays".
Councillor Carl Quartermain, cabinet member for transport, said the council was on course to repair 11,000 potholes this year "despite challenges" and it was "not accurate" to say the authority was failing to deal with the problem.
Kay said repairs were often ineffective, with patched up of potholes deteriorating quickly, the Local Democracy Reporting service said.
"Birk Brow and the Jolly Sailor bank on the A171 are frequently riddled with open potholes and dodgy, temporary patching.
"Margrove Road, between Charltons and Boosbeck is in a parlous state with holes and sunken patches."
He added other roads were "gradually disintegrating because of long-term neglect".
Quartermain said the resurfacing completed on Stanghow Road had cost £34,000 which was almost a fifth of the council's entire resurfacing budget for the financial year.
"I do not accept the suggestion that our roads in East Cleveland are being neglected," Quarterman told Kay during a council meeting.
"Highways schemes have been delivered within available budgets."
He said a further section between Low Stanghow Road and the A171 was due to be permanently patched and a section from the A171 to Millers Lane was within the council's provisional resurfacing programme for 2027/28.
He added prolonged wet weather meant some previous repairs had failed earlier than expected.
"It's simply not accurate to say the council is failing to deal with potholes when thousands of repairs are carried out each year."
